Waterfalls of Africa on a map on a large scale. What is the highest waterfall in Africa? I must say that the Africans reacted to their waterfall much more carefully than the Americans who ruined the landscape of Niagara with ridiculous observation towers

Victoria Falls is famous all over the world and constantly attracts a huge number of tourists from all over the world. It is the largest waterfall in Africa. Locals call him Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means “Thundering Smoke.” Victoria is one of the most significant and unique spectacles of the African continent.

The territory of the waterfall belongs simultaneously to two countries - Zambia and Zimbabwe. To understand where Victoria Falls is located, you need to look at the border between the two states. It divides the country directly along the Zambezi River, passing through the territory of the waterfall.

History of the name of the Victoria Falls

This waterfall got its name thanks to the English discoverer and traveler David Livingston. He was also the first white man to whose eyes in 1885 an incredible sight of a waterfall appeared. Locals led the explorer to the tallest waterfall in Africa. David Livingston was so fascinated and overwhelmed by the view that he immediately christened the waterfall in honor of the Queen of England.

In fact, Victoria Falls is not the highest waterfall in the world. The laurels of the highest water stream went to a waterfall (979 m). But the fact that the wall of water extends over a distance of almost two kilometers makes this waterfall the widest continuous stream in the world. The height of Victoria Falls is almost double the height. This figure varies from 80 to 108 meters at different points in the stream. Spray from rapidly falling masses of water scatters throughout the natural basin formed by the waterfall and is able to rise to a height of 400 m. The fog that they create and the roar of a stormy stream are visible and audible even at a distance of 50 km.

Victoria Falls is located on the Zambezi River approximately in the middle of its course. A water avalanche breaks off a cliff in the place where a wide river drastically falls into a relatively narrow mountain gap, the width of which is 120 m.

In autumn, when the rainy season recedes, the water level in the river decreases markedly. During this period of time, you can take walks along a certain part of the waterfall. For the remaining time, the waterfall is an endless powerful stream that overthrows 546 million liters of water every minute.

The dry season attracts many tourists to the waterfall also because it is during this period of the year that you can swim in a unique natural pool, which was called the devilish. And this is not surprising, because the "Font of the Devil" on Victoria Falls is located on a cliff. While swimming in it, one can observe how, at a distance of only a few meters, boiling water flows break off the mountain. This small ten-meter pool is separated from the waterfall only by a narrow bridge. However, when the water again resides in Zambezi, the “Devil’s Font” is closed because its visit may pose a threat to the lives of tourists.

Also among fans of extreme sports, “bungee jumping” is a popular form of entertainment. This is nothing more than cable jumping straight to the raging waters of Victoria Falls in Africa. Bungee jumping is carried out from a bridge located in the immediate vicinity of the waterfall. For a person who wants to take risks, they wear special elastic cables and offer him to step into the abyss. After free flight, almost at the very surface of the water, the cables spring and soon stop. A fearless tourist gets a lot of new and incomparable sensations.

Oddly enough, but on the driest continent of our planet, majestic waterfalls are also located. Few people have heard of the famous Victoria Falls, but not many people know that Africa is four times the height of the Tugela Falls.

Tugela Waterfall, Tugela River (South Africa)

Tugela Falls is not the most famous African waterfall, but it is the second largest waterfall in the world in terms of height. Although strictly speaking Tugela is more likely five freely falling waterfalls, the total height of which is 947 meters.

It is located in the Republic of South Africa, in the Dragon Mountains (Drakensberg), which are part of the grounds of the Royal Natal National Park in Kwazulu. Zulu Tugela means sudden. Dragon Mountains are called on the Zulu Ukhakhlamba. They have the source of Tugela - the largest river in this province that generated the largest African waterfall. The cliff of the rock from which the Tugela Falls falls in the winter months is often covered with snow.

South Drakensberg is a landscape of forest-covered river valleys sprawling in the frame of majestic cliffs, fields on mountain slopes and vast areas of pristine nature. In the park for tourists, there is provided for both outdoor activities - canoeing, climbing, mountain biking trails, hiking, and a more relaxing holiday - fishing, leisurely walks in nature and scenic tours.

Tugela Waterfall is undoubtedly a key attraction of any trip to the Dragon Mountains. To the top of Mount-Aux-Sources, there is a beautiful mountain trail that starts from the nearest car park. A very flat road leads to the top of the Amphitheater - Drakensberg Cliff, with the exception of only one relatively short climb. On two suspension bridges you can freely pass to the top of the mountain. All the way to the observation deck to the waterfall and back takes about 5 hours.

The second trail at the foot of the Tugela Falls begins in the Royal Natal National Park. It is also a very simple seven-kilometer climb. The trail along the Tugela gorge is laid through a pristine forest. At the final stage of the ascent to the Tugela waterfall, one has to overcome boulders, and then a suspension bridge is built, which leads to the observation platform, from which you can see a waterfall rushing down from the Amphitheater, consisting of five successive cascades.

Kalambo Waterfall, Kalambo River (South Africa)

Kalambo Falls, a height of 427 meters (772 feet), is one of the majestic waterfalls on the border of Zambia and Tanzania. The width of the waterfall is 3.6 - 18 m. This is the second highest continuous waterfall in Africa. The waterfall is located on the Kalambo River of the same name, which flows into Lake Tanganyika.

Downstream of the waterfall, the river flows along a 5 kilometer gorge about 1 km wide. and a depth of up to 300 m. before reaching the valley of Lake Tanganyika.

The waterfall was first discovered by Europeans only in 1913. Archaeologically, it is one of the most important places in Africa. In its vicinity, human activity can be traced for more than two hundred and fifty thousand years. The first excavation around a small lake at the bottom of a waterfall in 1953 was led by John Desmond Clark.

Stone tools and foci dating back to about 300,000 BC were found there. The foci show us that people already systematically used fire then.

Augrabis Waterfall, Orange River (South Africa)

Augrabies Falls is located on the Orange River, in the national park of South Africa. It occupies the third place by the height of the fall of water and ahead of the famous Victoria Falls following it. The local Khoykhoy tribe calls this Ankoerebis waterfall “a place of great noise”, and this is no coincidence, because powerful streams of water rumble from a height of 146 meters into a rocky gorge with a maximum depth of about 200 meters and a length of 18 km.

Aughrabies got its name in 1778 from Finn Hendrik Jakob Wikar. This name was adopted by the Boers who settled here later.

7800 cubic meters of water and 6800 cubic meters of water in 2006 passed every second through the waterfall to the 1988 flood. This is three times the average water discharge in the flood at Niagara Falls - 2400 cubic meters per second and more than the maximum peak for the entire time of observation of Niagara Falls, which amounted to 6800 cubic meters per second.

Victoria Falls, Zambezi River (Zambia and Zimbabwe)

Victoria Falls is undoubtedly one of the main attractions of South Africa. Victoria Falls is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located in southern Africa, on the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe, on the border of two national parks - the Mosi-oa-Tunya Park in Zambia and the Victoria Falls Park in Zimbabwe. Having visited the waterfall in 1855, the Scottish explorer David Livingston named it in honor of Queen Victoria. Local tribes gave him the name "Thundering Smoke."

Victoria is approximately 1800 meters wide and 108 meters high. Thanks to this, it is unique in the world. Victoria is almost twice as high as Niagara Falls and more than twice as wide as its main part - Horseshoes. The mass of falling water breaking into splashes forms a fog rising to a height of more than 400 meters, visible at a distance of up to 50 kilometers. During the rainy season, more than 500 million liters of water pass through the waterfall per minute, and in 1958 a record level of runoff was recorded in Zambezi - more than 770 million liters per minute.

At its fall, Victoria Falls is divided into four parts by islands. Near the right bank of the river, up to the 300 meter long island of Boaruca, a stream of water rushing downwards is called 35 meters wide, called “jumping water”, then comes the main waterfall, which is about 460 meters wide. It is followed by Livingston Island and a stream of water about 530 meters wide, and at the very left bank of the river is an eastern waterfall.

The Zambezi River falls about 120 meters deep into the rift of the earth's crust. Numerous islets on the crest of the waterfall form channels and divide the waterfall depending on the seasons. Over time, the waterfall receded upstream of the Zambezi. At the same time, he gnawed the soil to the bottom of the crevice, forming at present a zigzag-shaped riverbed with sheer walls.

The only exit of the river from the crevice is a rather narrow channel, punched by water in its wall at about 2/3 of the distance from the western end. Its width is only about 30 meters and a length of about 120 meters. Coming out of it, the Zambezi flows into a zigzag gorge, which stretches for 80 km. After the zigzag closest to the waterfall, a deep pond with a width of about 150 m was formed, called the “Boiling Cauldron”.

In the rainy season, the Zambezi water flows through Victoria in a continuous stream, but during the drought season, the waterfall almost dries. The spray and fog above it are practically invisible and the water level in the gorge below the waterfall decreases by almost 20 meters.

Below the Boiling Boiler, a railway bridge 250 meters long and 125 meters above the river level is thrown across the gorge. It was built in 1905 and is one of the five bridges on the Zambezi River.

Blue Nile Waterfalls, Blue Nile River (Ethiopia)

Blue Nile Falls (Tis Ysat, or Tis Abbay) are located on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia. In the Amharic language they are called Tis Issat, which means "Smoke Water". They are located in the upper reaches of the Blue Nile River, about 30 km downstream from the city of Bahir Dar and Lake Tana. Blue Nile Falls is considered one of Ethiopia's most famous tourist attractions. It is estimated that four streams of water fall from a height of 37 to 45 meters, which turn from small streams in the dry season to a stream more than 400 meters wide in the rainy season.

The whole Tis Abbay waterfall consists of a cascade of several small waterfalls located at the feet of a large upper waterfall.

In 2003, two hydroelectric power stations were launched at the waterfall. On them through artificial channels located above the waterfall, part of the water comes from the Blue Nile. Thanks to this, the flow of water through the waterfall has become smaller, but this does not prevent the formation of a rainbow over it, which many tourists come to see here. The gorge into which the river falls is famous for the oldest stone bridge in Ethiopia, which was erected by Portuguese missionaries in 1626.

Namaqualand Waterfalls (South Africa)

Namaqualanda (Afrikaans: Namakwaland) waterfall in the arid region of Namibia. This region stretches over 970 km. along the west coast and its total area is 440,000 km². The region is divided into two parts by the lower reaches of the Orange River - Malaya Namaqualand in the south and Bolshaya Namaqualand in the north.

Namaqualand Falls is located on the Orange River a few miles north of Nieuwoudtville along the road to Loeriesfontein.

Berlin Waterfall, Blyde River (South Africa)

Berlin Falls is located in the province of Mpumalanga in northeast South Africa. He is 262 feet high. Waterfall Berlin is part of the famous African route "Panorama" and is located north of Graskop and close to the Window of God in the Blyde River Canyon area.

Murchison Falls is located on the Nile River.In its upper part, Murchison made his way into the rocks only 7 meters wide and 43 meters deep. In the west, the river flows into Lake Alberta.

Murchison Falls National Park is the largest national park in Uganda. It occupies 3840 square kilometers. The park is the location of the famous Murchison Falls, where the cliffs compress the Nile in a narrow gorge, only 7 meters.Buffalos, elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos inhabit this corner of the wild.

South Africa: The largest waterfall in the world - Victoria!

Victoria Falls   - One of the most outstanding sights of Africa and one of the most unusual waterfalls in the world.

It is created by the Zambezi River, plunging sharply into a narrow crevice 100 meters wide.

Moreover, Victoria is the only waterfall in the world that has a length of more than a kilometer and a height of more than one hundred meters.

Mosi-o-Tunia ( Thundering smoke) so for a long time hunters of the Batok tribe called a waterfall on the Zambezi River.

And the Matabele cattle breeders living on the opposite shore gave him another, no less poetic name - Jonggue, which in their language means " Rainbow spot".

The modern name - Victoria - gave the waterfall in honor of his queen the first European who saw him in 1855, the Englishman David Livingston.

He discovered this natural wonder after a two-year difficult journey through the savannahs and jungles of Central Africa.

Accompanying the researcher of three hundred warriors of the local leader, Selektu did not dare to approach the roaring community.

According to them, in the abyss beneath a boiling wall of water there was a formidable deity that made itself felt with a terrifying growl.

Only the two most daring companions of Livingston ventured to shuttle with him and swim to an island on the crest of a waterfall.

But let us give the floor to the traveler:

"Before our eyes appeared the huge pillars of a" pair "rising up five to six miles from us.

The "steam" rose with five pillars and, deviating in the direction of the wind, looked as if these columns were touching a low cliff covered with forest. At such a distance, it seemed that at the top the pillars were mixed with clouds.

Below they were white, and above they became dark as smoke.

This whole picture was extremely beautiful.

The waterfall on three sides is limited by cliffs of about 100 m in height, which are covered with forest.

The rowers, having shuttled the middle part of the stream among the whirlpools formed by many protruding stones, brought me to an island located in the middle of the river, not far from the ledge, over which the water poured. Despite the fact that the waterfall was very close, we could not determine where this huge mass of water was going; it seemed that it was going into the ground, since the opposite ledge of the crack, at which the water disappeared, was only 27 meters from us.

At least I could not understand this until I crawled with fear to the very edge and looked down at a huge cleft that stretched from one shore to the other across the entire width of the Zambezi ...

  Looking deep into the cleft, to the right of the islet, I saw nothing but a thick white cloud, on which at that time there were two bright rainbows.

A huge jet of "steam" burst from this cloud, rising up to 200-300 feet; condensing above, the “vapor” changed its color, becoming dark as smoke, and went back in a hail of small splashes that soon did not leave a single dry thread on us.

This rainfall falls mainly on the other side of the cleft; a few meters from the edge of the cliff there are evergreen trees, the leaves of which are always wet. ”

A modern tourist who wants to see Victoria Falls with his own eyes will see almost the same picture as an English researcher a century and a half ago.

Thousands of water masses hit Victoria’s basalt base with such force that the water turns into clouds of spray, flying back with five columnar white clouds rising hundreds of meters to the sky.

They can be seen from a distance of forty kilometers, and the roar of a waterfall, similar to the continuous rumble of thunder, is almost as far away.

The Zambezi River, which spills almost two kilometers wide in this place, suddenly stumbles here on a giant crack-fault in basalts, and a powerful avalanche collapses one hundred and twenty meters down, falling into a narrow abyss with hundred-meter steep walls located at right angles to upstream.

The islands divide the entire expanse of Victoria into several separate streams, bearing the names:

“Devil's Waterfall”, “Main Waterfall”, “Horseshoe”, “Rainbow” and “Eastern Waterfall”.

  Water jets, resembling arrows flying down with foamy endings, are carried away into the abyss and disappear in a cloud of spray.

Two magnificent rainbows constantly shine above a waterfall.

Shocked by the picture that opened before him, Livingston wrote in his diary: "This sight was so beautiful that he must have admired the flying angels."

The waters of the Zambezi, squeezed by a narrow gorge, boil and bubble like volcanic magma, foaming and rampageing with a wild roar and roar.

And the scientist’s pencil turns under the influence of this fabulous majestic picture into the poet’s pen, for it is impossible to convey the sensations of an eyewitness of this earthly miracle with the dry language of a scientific report.

Here is another excerpt from David Livingstone's travel description:

  “The whole mass of water overflowing the edge of the waterfall, three meters below, turns into a kind of monstrous veil of snow driven by a blizzard. Water particles separate from it in the form of comets with flowing tails, until all this snow avalanche turns into a myriad of small comets rushing in one direction and each of them leaves behind its core a tail of white foam. "

  Victoria Falls is the only place on Earth where you can see the rarest natural phenomenon - the moon rainbow.

It does not occur often - only at those moments when the flood on the Zambezi River coincides with the period of the full moon.

And even people who have been here more than once can not always boast that they saw this night miracle.

Indeed, between the next occurrences of the lunar rainbow, sometimes 10-15 years pass.

Only recently, the National Geographic journal photographers managed to capture it for the first time on film.

Alas, the black and white illustrations in our book are powerless to convey its mysterious charm.

It is difficult to say what makes the greatest impression on those who visited Victoria Falls: the sight of a gigantic river suddenly disappearing in a bottomless hole, the monstrous roar of a water avalanche, rainbows in clouds of spray or the damp splendor of an evergreen forest that frames this fantastic picture.

Each of the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the waterfall annually takes away something of their own, something that particularly struck him in this most beautiful corner of Africa.

Some people think that the most amazing impression is when observing the white columns of “rattling smoke” in the sunset, when the dying sun casts a golden stream of rays on the cloud pillars, staining them in gray-yellow color, and then it seems that some kind of tower above the water giant torches.

  I must say that the Africans reacted to their waterfall much more carefully than the Americans who ruined the landscape of Niagara with ridiculous observation towers.

To see Victoria from above, it is enough to walk fifty meters to a huge baobab, towering above the green sea of \u200b\u200bthe jungle. Climbing a metal ladder to its top, you can enjoy a bird's-eye view of the waterfall without disturbing the natural harmony.

Many travelers are not limited to the spectacle of a waterfall.

No matter how beautiful and formidable the view of a hundred-meter water wall falling into the abyss, Africa is fraught with many more miracles.

And if you take a trip on a cake through the dark waters of the Zambezi, spilling above the waterfall, you can see a whole world of mysterious and amazing African nature on the banks and islands of the river: the green walls of the jungle descending to the water, bathing hippos and elephants, lurking crocodiles and come to the watering hole antelope ...

  And thrill-seekers sometimes decide on a desperate and risky rafting rafting along the lower reaches of the Zambezi, roaring and raging in the gorge under the waterfall.

On a twenty-kilometer stretch of the river they have to overcome nineteen rapids with waves reaching a height of six meters ...

  The discoverer of Victoria Falls, a friend and teacher of Native Africans, Dr. Livingstone, is immortalized here forever.

Just a few meters from Devil's Falls is a modest monument to a remarkable explorer. And nearby, in a town named Livingstone, his memorial museum was opened.

Victoria Falls

There are many very beautiful places in Africa. One of them is Victoria Falls, named after the Queen of England. In 1855, this miracle was discovered by traveler David Levingston. The sight of many tons of water flying into the abyss struck him.

The largest waterfall in Africa has a length of about a kilometer and a height of 100 meters. It is known that the Zambezi River flows along almost flat terrain, but a deep canyon blocks its path, into which water falls. On the width of the river, on the very edge of the abyss are four islands that divide the river into streams. Each of them has its own name. This is Devil's Waterfall, Rainbow, Horseshoe, Main and Eastern. A grand spectacle is a natural miracle in March and April. In this area, these months have the rainy season.

In the rainy season, it is difficult to discern what is happening in the canyon, the water breaks down with such force that even in the air, before it reaches the bottom, it turns into water dust. Clouds rise up to a height of more than three hundred meters. At a distance of 40 kilometers from the waterfall you can see the fog and hear the thunder of water falling into the abyss. When the rains stop, the power of the river also weakens, and when the dry time comes, only a few small streams remain from the powerful stream. At this time, you can clearly see the river bed and the bottom of the canyon.

Facts about Victoria Falls

The largest waterfall in Africa serves as the border between two countries - Zimbabwe and Zambia, in this place there are also national parks of the hot continent. Only here, on the banks of the Zambezi, large populations of rare animals such as hippos and giraffes live. Due to the constant presence of water dust in the rainy season, tall, evergreen trees grow to be huge along the banks of the waterfall. Thanks to water, these plants are preserved in the dry season, when there is not enough water in the whole area.

For a very long time, Victoria Falls has been visited by many tourists. Some specially come here to see this miracle. In 1905, a railway was built, along which you can get to the right place. Previously, only small enthusiasts got here. This waterfall is the only one in the whole world where you can admire a rare phenomenon - the moon rainbow. This spectacle is very rare, appears only once every 15 years, during the full moon. An indispensable condition is the rainy season, when a natural phenomenon manifests itself in full force.

Locals equipped a viewing platform on top of a huge baobab. You can climb it by a special ladder. Such a device does not violate the harmony of nature and at the same time makes it possible to consider all the beauty of the area. Above Victoria, as the largest waterfall in Africa is called, is a wonderful nature, forests with many species of animals grow here. Directly along the shores of the Zambezi are national parks, in which, in addition to giraffes and hippos, there are also inhabitants such as elephants, antelopes and crocodiles.

Waterfall can be dangerous

It is best, of course, to look at all this splendor from a helicopter, which can hang at a fairly high altitude. This is the only way to see the waterfall as a whole. Some especially courageous people try to get closer to the stream and take a picture of the river, tearing down from as close a distance as possible. Such behavior is dangerous and many have already paid for frivolity with their lives, but new daredevils are found and are at risk again.

The largest waterfall in Africa is Victoria Falls, which is located on the Zambezi River. Many people come here and have an unforgettable experience. Upstream, rare animals live in national parks.

In 1855, at the head of a flotilla of 33 boats with a team of 160 Macololo natives, a Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingston traveled up the Zambezi River. And so, when the expedition passed the next channel, a magnificent, incomparable riot of nature opened before them. In front of travelers appeared in all its power and beauty the largest waterfall in Africa.

Livingston wrote that in England no one can even imagine for a moment the whole splendor of this miracle of nature: “No one can imagine the whole beauty of a waterfall. The eyes of the Briton, and indeed of any European, have never seen such a thing, but angels in heaven must have admired the spectacle so insanely beautiful! ” The traveler named him after the then reigning Queen of Great Britain Victoria. From ancient times, hunters of the Batok tribes called Mosi-o-Tunya waterfall - "Thundering Smoke", and the Matabele tribe, from the other side, called it Chongue - "The Place of the Rainbow".

It is one of the largest in the world and the most stunning waterfall. Of course, Victoria Falls is a fantastic sight. It appears as if from nowhere. The landscape has no mountains and hills. In the basalt plateau along which the Zambezi flows, a huge cleft forms, into which flows of a full-flowing river break down.

The waterfall is very wide, somewhere around 1800 meters, and the height from the top point of water fall varies from 80 meters to 108 meters. Water forms fog and splashes that rise above 350 meters and are visible up to 40 kilometers away. During the rainy season, more than 500,000,000 liters of water per minute pass through the waterfall.

At the edge of the abyss are four islands that share streams of water. Near the right bank is a Leaping Water stream, 35 meters high. Beyond Boaruc Island, the “Main” waterfall is about 450 meters wide. Livingston Island separates the main channel from another "river in the river", and on the left coast the "East" cascade breaks into the abyss.

The waterfall gradually recedes upstream, gnawing new channels in basalt.

Depending on the time of year, the waterfall looks completely different. In the high-water season - March and April, he rages at full strength. But spray and constant fog make it difficult to discern its splendor. With a decrease in the amount of water, the view of the waterfall improves. At the “waterless” point, in November and December, the waterfall pours sparse streams, and in some places it dries completely. During the dry season, cliffs are clearly visible, and you can see the abyss.

The waterfall is located on the border of two states and two national parks - the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and the Thundering Smoke in Zambia. The national parks preserve rich wildlife with settlements of elephants and giraffes. In Zambezi, a large hippo colony lives near the waterfall, and crocodiles are found.

Before the construction of the railway to Bulawayo, the second largest city of Zimbabwe, in 1905, the waterfall was rarely visited by Europeans, today those who wish can freely go, independently or through developed tourist routes, to the waterfall.

On electronic maps, Victoria Falls is visible in all its greatness. Be sure to look, you will not regret it!